The Giz Wiz for the week of August 7th, 2012, Netcast 1376
August 6, 2012 1 Comment Nostalgia comes to the counter-top! Gadgets I found at BlogHer 2012, an event aimed at women who blog held at NY Hilton, August 2-4, 2012. (But men were welcome too!)
When I went to the BlogHer 2012 exhibit hall, a spokesperson at the BEST BUY booth told me nostalgia kitchen gadgets were now available at their stores. There were five retro gadgets, but I particularly liked the Red Retro Series Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster. This is an all-in-one hot-dog/bun toaster. You drop a hot dog in the each of the two round slots and two buns in the larger slots. Then you adjust the timing knob, and press the lever down. It works just like a toaster. Once cooked, the hot dogs and the buns pop up and the toaster shuts off. It's so simple a kid can do it, and that who I think this appliance is aimed at. Other features include quick-cleaning drain trays, and mini tongs for safe removal of hot items. Something to be aware of is that this retro device is designed exclusively for standard-size hot dogs and buns. I’ll come back to that in a minute. Since they weren’t actually demonstrating the Red Retro Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster, I decided to check review out online. Wow, it seems folks either hated it, or loved it. From what I read parents who have kids love the Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster, because their kids love it. The main complaint I read is that the frankfurters don’t cook as quickly as the buns, so you either get burned buns, or under-cooked franks. That’s why the instructions say you should use “room temperature” hot dogs. And big complaint is that franks expand when cooked and often get stuck in the toaster. I guess that’s why they provided mini tongs with the unit. If you buy one, you should make sure you can return it if you don’t like. Even though I buy tons of crap, I’m going to pass on this one because although I like the looks of it, I’d probably use once or twice a month. So I don’t want an appliance that takes up space with very little usefulness. At Best Buy the Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster is $24.99, but it seems to be all over the Internet for as little as $19.00! Here’s a place that sells it for $19.00. I haven’t bought anything here.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Q8X6IO/?tag=twnene-20
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Reader Comments (1)
Dick, you and Leo sure "dogged" the toaster neither one of you actually tested. Amazon gets mostly complaints on items and that's the way it has always been on product reviews by consumers.
I have the toaster and just wanted to say it's a great little unit, first, hot dogs are precooked. The toaster only warms everything up. Your review says cooks a lot and this is not what the machine does. Two, if you have a problem with the buns over toasting, the easy solution around our house is to put in the dogs and start the toaster, then go open the bun bag and casually take your time and get some out. Then walk over to the toaster and pop them in with the already heating dogs. problem solved. I have two kids and myself as the third kid approves of this toaster! We have never had one over plump and if we did there is a small cage that holds the dogs and is removable, the tongs are only needed to prevent burnt fingers once they pop up. Reviewing products that you have never tried to me not good television or journalism.